The effects of a fermentation filtrate of Ganoderma lucidum (FGL) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatic fibrosis were investigated in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administered with FGL (20 or 100 mg/kg) for 33 days, and orally administered with CCl4 (1.0 mL/kg; 2 mL/kg of 50% in corn oil) at 3-day intervals 1 h after FGL treatment. Body and liver weights, blood and histopathological findings in accordance with hydroxyproline concentrations were analyzed. Chronic exposure to CCl4 reduced the body weight gain, but increased liver weights and fibrosis, resulting in 3.35-fold increase in hydroxyproline level. Although FGL did not significantly reduce the CCl4-induced body and liver weight changes, it attenuated the increases in the hepatic fibrosis and hydroxyproline contents. Taken together, it is suggested that FGL might prevent hepatic fibrosis, and that FGL or its ingredient could be a potential candidate for the prevention of chronic hepatic disorders.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; Fermentation ; Fibrosis ; Ganoderma ; Humans ; Hydroxyproline ; Liver ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reishi ; Weights and Measures ; Zea mays

Antioxidative and aldose reductase (AR)-inhibitory effects of a fermentation filtrate of Rubus coreanus (FRC) were investigated using corneal/retinal homogenate and lens cytosol, respectively. Rat corneal/retinal homogenate was treated with 50 microM FeCl3 in the presence of FRC (3.2-100 microg/mL) for 30 min at 37degrees C, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) was quantified as a lipid peroxidation parameter. FRC markedly suppressed the TBARS production in a concentration-dependent manner, leading to 50% (IC50) and 100% (IC100) inhibitory concentrations of 20 and 95 microg/mL, respectively, which was similar to the effect of butylated hydroxyanisole. Activity of AR from rat lens was assayed in the presence of FRC (1-31.6 microg/mL) at 25degrees C using glyceraldehyde as a substrate. FRC inhibited lens AR by 50% (IC50) and 90% (IC90) at approximately 2 and 31.6 microg/mL, respectively, comparable to the effect of quercetin. The results indicate that ERC could be a promising candidate for the improvement of eye injury and visual dysfunction of dry eye and diabetic patients.
Aldehyde Reductase ; Animals ; Butylated Hydroxyanisole ; Cytosol ; Eye ; Eye Injuries ; Fermentation ; Glyceraldehyde ; Humans ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Quercetin ; Rats ; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identity the effects of a tailored health promotion program on rural residents' self efficacy, health problems and quality of life. METHOD: Data were collected from May 13th, 2006 to July 29th, 2006. The subjects were selected at Gajo-myeon, Geochang-gun, Gyeonsangbuk-do, Korea. Forty three residents were included in the experimental group and 39 in the control group. The 12-week health promotion program was given to the experimental group. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi2-test, t-test and ANCOVA test with the SPSS/Win 12.0 program. RESULT: The experimental group showed higher scores of self efficacy and quality of life than the control group, and a lower score of health problem than the control group. CONCLUSION: From the above results, it can be concluded that the tailored health promotion program for rural residents is an effective intervention for improving their self efficacy and quality of life and reducing their health problems. Therefore, it is necessary to spread the tailored health promotion program for residents in other rural areas in Korea.
Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Health Promotion* ; Korea ; Quality of Life* ; Self Efficacy*

Lichen aureus is a variant of pigmented purpuric lichenoid dermatitis. The skin lesions usually appear asymptomatic rusty, copper, or orange colored roundish lichenoid erythematous-purpuric papules and patches on the lower extremities. Histologically, the epidermis shows minimal changes, with a dense lymphohistiocytic infiltrate observed in the superficial derrnis, typically distributed in a band-like fashion. The typical lesion is a single patch localized on the lower extremity. We report a rare case of segmental lichen aureus localized on the right lower extremity.
Citrus sinensis ; Copper ; Dermatitis ; Epidermis ; Lichens* ; Lower Extremity ; Skin

No abstract available.
Leukocytes*

BACKGROUND: There are many rating scales for assessment of geriatrics. But each of these scales were not sufficient to evaluate comprehensive geriatric assessment, physical and psychologic efforts for care. METHODS: We developed new scales to comprehensive geriatric assessment for care of geriatric patients. The Geriatrics Physical Support Scale(GPSS) evaluates physical effort consists of 10 areas and the Geriatrics Global Support Scale(GGSS) evaluates general condition of patients consist of 6 areas. Eighty probable and possible AD patients received the Clinical Dementia Rating Rating Scale(CDR), Korearn version of Mini-Mental State Examination(K-MMSE), Barthel Activity of Daily Living Index(B-ADL) GPSS, GGSS. We tested internal consistency, correlation among dementia rating scales. RESULTS: The GPSS correlated to CDR -0.63(p<0.01), B-ADL -0.90(p<0.01) and the GGSS correlated to CDR -0.60(p<0.01), B-ADL -0.75(p<0.01). The internal consistency were 0.69(GGSS), 0.92(GPSS). CONCLUSION: The Geriatrics Global Support Scale evaluate general condition of patients and the Geriatrics Physical Support Scale evaluate physical efforts needed for care of geriatric patients. These scales an also brief and easy rating scales to grade degree of caregiver`s burden.
Dementia ; Geriatric Assessment ; Geriatrics* ; Humans ; Physical Exertion ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Weights and Measures

Cellular oncogenes are expressed as an intrinsic part of the transformed or neoplastic phenotype. More than 60 of the known cellular oncogenes play a specific role in normal cellular development and differentiation. To examine the correlation between ras oncogene expression and the development of cervical cancer, this study investigated the reactivity of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN) and carcinoma of the uterine cervix by using anti-ras P21 mouse monoclonal antibody. The expression of ras oncogene significantly increased with the grade of malignancy from 11% in severe dysplasia, 30% in carcinoma in situ, 43% in microinvasive carcinoma, to 53% in invasive cancer. The expression of ras oncogene was not correlated with histologic type, tumor size, and nodal status of cervical cancer. It was concluded that expression of ras oncogene is related to early phase of carcinogenesis and tumor invasion of carcinoma of the uterine cervix.
Animals ; Carcinogenesis ; Carcinoma in Situ ; Cervix Uteri* ; Female ; Genes, ras* ; Mice ; Oncogenes ; Phenotype ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify the health promotion behavior, health problem, perceived health status and farmers' syndrome of rural residents. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 637 adults of 19 primary health care post extracted from 1.875 primary health care post in Korea by quota sampling method. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation. RESULTS: The average score of health promotion behavior was 2.23. In the sub-scales, the highest degree of performance was 'nutrition', followed by 'spiritual growth' and the lowest degree of performance was 'physical activity'. The most prevalent health problem was ailments in 'musculoskeletal system', followed by 'fatigue', 'eyes and ears', 'cardiovascular system'. The mean score of perceived health status was 8.54. The prevalence of farmers' syndrome was 98.4%. Health promotion behavior showed a significant positive correlation health status and perceived health status showed a significant negative farmers' syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: With the above findings, rural residents' physical activity is less than urban residents', and the rural resident's score of perceived health status, musculoskeletal system and fatigue are lower than urban residents'. The farmers' syndrome of the rural people is high. A tailored health promotion program for rural community is needed to develop in the consideration of these findings.
Adult ; Fatigue ; Health Behavior ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Korea ; Motor Activity ; Musculoskeletal System ; Prevalence ; Primary Health Care ; Rural Population

The incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has increased with the advanced technology of society. A careful evaluation of associated problems, initial severity, and complications is important for the acute management and rehabilitation of patients with TBI. To predict the rehabilitation potentials of patients with TBI, we have retrospectively investigated the causes, types of injury, associated problems, and complications in 186 patients and also assessed the rehabilitation outcomes by measuring the functional gains according to the types of brain injury and the initial severities evaluated by the Glasgow coma scale in 82 patients. The functional gains were measured by differences of the Mini-mental status examination, PULSES profile, and Barthel index of pre- and post-rehabilitation states. The incidence of TBI was highest in the 3rd decade men and the most common cause was a traffic accident (120 cases, 64.5%). The types of brain injury were a diffuse axonal injury, 87 cases (46.8%); epidural hematoma, 21 cases (11.3 %); subarachnoid hemorrhage, 25 cases (13.4%); subdural hematoma, 28 cases (15.1%); and intracerebral hematoma, 25 cases (12.9%). Common associated problems were fractures and injuries of nervous system. The 7th cranial nerve and the peroneal nerve were the most common injuries for cranial and peripheral nerves, respectively. Common complications were pulmonary and skin disorders. Total hospital stay and the duration for rehabilitation were not significantly different by the types of injury. Functional gain tended to be higher in the intracerebral hematoma compared to the other types of brain injury. The functional gain was statistically higher in patients with initial severity of moderate degree according to the Glasgow coma scale. In conclusion the moderate traumatic brain injured patients seem to have a higher potential for the good functional outcome.
Accidents, Traffic ; Brain ; Brain Injuries* ; Cranial Nerves ; Diffuse Axonal Injury ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Hematoma ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Humans ; Incidence ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Nervous System ; Peripheral Nerves ; Peroneal Nerve ; Rehabilitation* ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Treatment Outcome*

Hydrocephalus occurs frequently after stroke and has been reported to affect the functional outcome. We investigated 77 stroke patients retrospectively to evaluate whether or not hydrocephalus affects the functional outcome. The patients were divided into three groups: Group 1, 20 patients without hydrocephalus; Group 2, 28 patients with early onset hydrocephalus; Group 3, 29 patients with delayed onset hydrocephalus. Functional status was evaluated by 3 functional indices, Mini-Mental Status Examination(MMSE), Barthel index, and PULSES profile. These 3 functional indices were compared between pre- and post-rehabilitation stages in Groups 1 and 2, and compared among pre-rehabilitation, post-hydrocephalus, and post-rehabilitation stages in Group 3. Significant functional improvements were shown in the post-rehabilitation stage in Groups 1 and 2 (P<0.05). In Group 3, the functional improvements were shown in the post-rehabilitation stage when compared to the pre-rehabilitation stage, but without statistical significance. However, significant functional improvements were demonstrated in the post-rehabilitation stage compared to the post-hydrocephalus stage in Group 3 (P<0.05). In comparing the three groups, the final functional outcome was found to be best in Group 1 and worst in Group 3. We suggest that the time from the onset of hydrocephalus to diagnosis and management is more important than the presence of hydrocephalus itself in the stroke patient in respect to functional outcome.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus* ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke*